Dinner Date
by redskiez
Summary: The date doesn't go as well as he wants it to go, but he's fine with it anyway.


Unbeta'd.

* * *

He checks his phone again.

Madara appears in front of him, arms crossed. "Are you on your phone again, Obito?" he asks.

"Huh?" Obito says, distracted. He lets his phone lock itself and looks up at his boss. "No, I was just checking the time."

Madara glances at his computer.

"It's still broken. IT won't come until tomorrow."

His boss scoffs and waves his hand. "Do you have something to do? Is that why you're obsessed with checking the time?"

Obito stutters, unsure how to answer him. "Sort of," he says. "Something at seven."

Madara raises an eyebrow and then moves a little to the right to glance at the clock that is hidden from view at Obito's desk. He seems to ponder something, staring at the front door of the station.

"Okay," Madara says eventually. "You can go."

Obito raises both of his eyebrows and looks at his phone, surprised to see that it's not even seven yet. "But…" he begins.

"Forget it," Madara says. "You've been a good employee these past few days. You even dealt with that annoying old man, who has actually stopped calling in. You can go home early today."

"Thank you," Obito says, standing up quickly.

Madara waves his hand and then heads back to his office.

Obito packs up quickly, shoving his wallet and phone into his pants pockets. He checks that his computer is turned off still — he can't even turn it on in the first place but checking the computer has become part of his routine — and then heads out of the station, grabbing a jacket along the way.

It turns seven by the time he's out the door and, just as he said, Deidara stands in front of the station. It's a strange place to stand, Obito notes. It looks as though he's sizing the place up and passing officers keep glancing at him.

"You can be a little less suspicious," Obito says as he walks up to him.

Deidara starts at the sound of his voice as if he didn't even see him, but he calms down quickly and says, "That's not possible, yeah. I'm incapable."

Obito laughs and gestures down the street. Deidara follows him. "You're lucky my boss let me off early. He rarely lets me do that," he says.

"You're lucky I even decided to show up," Deidara mumbles.

"I'm surprised that you did, actually," Obito says, refusing to admit that he had been looking forward to this. If Deidara didn't show up, he'd probably be disappointed.

"As I said," Deidara says, "You're lucky in that regard. I didn't want to come, yeah. I thought about bailing."

"That's nice to know," Obito says.

"Shut up," Deidara says. "How would I know that this isn't a trap and you're going to arrest me for vandalism?"

"Boss-man didn't give the orders to do that," Obito says. "You can relax. He'd get mad if I give him extra work to do."

"Is this seriously how law enforcement works here, hm?" Deidara asks. He sounds pissed.

"No," Obito says, "but if my boss doesn't want something done, it'll be best to not do it. He has his reasons, I think. He's one of the youngest captains in the country."

Deidara scoffs. "Why are you so willing to bend down to authority, yeah?"

Obito shrugs. He doesn't know, so he doesn't say. Instead, he says, "It's best not to do anything extra when it comes to Madara. Just stick to his commands to the letter and everyone will be better off."

"Why does it sound like you're advising me? Are you trying to recruit me into being a cop? I hate cops, you know that, right, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah," Obito says. "I'm not trying to recruit you. I just… I don't know. I was told that."

Deidara raises an eyebrow and his arm brushes against Obito's. "Sounds like bad advice," he says.

"Maybe," Obito replies.

He thinks Deidara means to say something else, but they arrive at their destination a little too soon. Obito gestures to Deidara to the restaurant he has selected and heads up to the stand.

"I booked a table for two," Obito says. "Uchiha."

The host looks down at the ledger, his eyes following his finger as it travels down the page. He makes a small "ah-ha!" sound as he finds his name and grabs two menus. "Right this way, Mr. Uchiha," he says. "Would you like an individual pot or a shared one?"

Obito glances at Deidara. Deidara shrugs.

"Shared," he says.

The waiter nods and then leads them to another part of the restaurant. He stops in front of a table for two, an electric panel built into the middle of the table. "Here you are, sir," he says as he places down the menus. "There are three soup bases to choose from."

"Thank you," Obito says. He gestures for Deidara to sit down and even tries to pull out the chair for him, but Deidara is too quick for him — he mentions something about useless chivalry as he sits.

The waitress nods and then leaves the two of them alone. Obito takes his seat and looks at the menu. "Would you like tomato, pork, or just plain soup?" he asks Deidara.

Deidara doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he's glancing at him over the edge of the menu.

Obito is respectful of whatever Deidara is going through. He hums to himself and says, "I think I'd go for the pork one. It's my favorite."

Deidara doesn't say anything to that either. Instead, he puts down his menu and leans on his hands. "You're really weird," he says.

"Well," Obito says, putting down his menu as well, "I don't think that's really an appropriate thing to say."

Deidara scoffs, a puff of air rushing out of his nose. "I never say anything appropriate, yeah," he says, toying with his jaw with his thumbs. "I only say honest things."

Obito waves a waiter over, glancing at Deidara. "What's your honest opinion about this date, then?"

"My honest opinion is that I wouldn't call it a date, hm," Deidara says.

Obito remains silent. The waiter comes over and takes Obito's order. The waiter says, "The bar is open for you now."

"Thank you," Obito replies and the waiter grabs the menus and takes his leave. He turns back to Deidara. "You really think that, huh?"

Deidara licks his lips, glancing down at his now-empty side of the table. He doesn't say anything for a long time, not even when the waiter comes back with a bowl of soup. He remains quiet as Obito places an order of two sets of meat each.

"Well, whatever it is that you think," Obito says, standing up from his chair, "I'm still going to enjoy this meal, so if you would like to do the same, it would be much appreciated."

Deidara leans his head back against the wall and sighs. He was still in the same position when Obito came back with a plate of food.

Obito places his food in the pot as the soup boils. "You didn't have to come if you didn't want to," he says when Deidara doesn't move.

"Hm," Deidara hums. He sits properly and watches Obito stir the pot, eyes following his movements. "I didn't realize you'd be serious about it, yeah."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't think you'd want to, you know, do this together."

"Why not?"

"Why do you keep forgetting? I broke the law, remember, yeah?"

Obito shrugs. "As I said, it doesn't matter. Boss-man doesn't want to arrest you, so I can just look at this entire thing with one eye open."

"I seriously worry for the security of this entire nation."

Obito chuckles, fishing out a fishball and a couple of sausages for Deidara. "No one seems to have a problem with it," he jokes.

Deidara gives him a look, poking at his food. "Are you sure you're a real cop?"

"I did walk out of the police station, didn't I?"

"You could have been arrested." Deidara shrugs.

"Maybe," Obito says. "Feels like I am."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he says. "C'mon, let's just enjoy the food, okay?"

"You're really weird," Deidara says but he complies anyway. They eat their fill and talk about nothing, mainly Obito asking Deidara questions about himself and offering answers of his own past when Deidara doesn't feel like answering. By the end of it, at their third bowl of ice-cream, Deidara seems more comfortable with this dinner than the start.

"I just think you can do more than I can," Obito is saying, "I've already wasted my life. It would be a shame to watch you waste yours."

"I am not wasting my life," Deidara says.

"Maybe," Obito says. "I'd just like to be around when you're making an impact on the world."

Deidara grins. A waiter comes over with the bill in hand and Obito places his credit card down.

"Where's your dorm?" Obito asks when he finishes paying the bill.

"Are you going to walk me there?"

"No, I just wanted to know where it was so I can come to arrest you whenever I want."

Deidara gives him a smirk, mischief in his eyes. "You're going to have to need a warrant to get into private property, yeah," he says.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Obito replies.

"How are you so sure?"

"I just know," Obito says. "It's a gut feeling."

"Alright then, officer," Deidara says, "escort me home, hm."

* * *

Hey guys, Red here!

Happy Day 4 of TobiDei Week 2019!

I started writing this last year after I started the _Brightest_ series, but I never got around to finishing it. The prompt for day 4 was a perfect excuse for me to dig this back out.

If you can donate to my ko-fi it would be great! You can go to ko-fi dot com forward-slash redskiez to buy me a coffee!


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